him, without her free will and consent" (Noor, Azman Mohd (1 January 2010). "Rape: A Problem of Crime Classification in Islamic Law". Arab Law Quarterly. 24 (4): 417–438) Classical Islamic law defined what today is commonly called "rape" as a coercive form of fornication or adultery (zināʾ) This basic definition of rape as "coercive zināʾ" meant that all the normal legal principles that pertained to zināʾ – its definition, punishment, and establishment through evidence – were also applicable to rape. The inclusion of rape within the purview of hirabah (an Arabic word for piracy or unlawful warfare. In Islamic Law, hirabah is a legal category that comprises highway robbery, rape and terrorism) has had support throughout Islamic history. The medieval Zahiri jurist Ibn Hazm defined hirabah as, ‘One who puts people in fear on the road, whether or not with a weapon, at night or day, in urban areas or in open spaces, in the palace of a caliph or a mosque, with or without accomplices, in the desert or in the village, in a large or small city, with one or more people… making people fear that they’ll be killed, or have money taken, or be raped (hatk al ‘arad)… whether the attackers are one or many.' In the Hanafi school of law, the term zina is taken to refer to illegal sexual intercourse, where rape is distinguished as zina bil jabr to indicate its forced and non-consensual nature whereas fornication and adultery fit zina bil ridha, which indicates consent. Though the terminology uses the term zina, nonetheless, they are two categorically different crimes as rape is treated as a tazeer (discretionary) crime by the judge and prosecuted based on circumstantial evidence (medical evidence, any number of witnesses, and other forensic evidence). It is fornication and adultery by mutual consent, or zina bil ridha, which retain their classical hadd punishments from the Qur'an and sunnah provided there are four witnesses (absent which they too default to tazeer, subject to discretionary punishments such as fining, imprisonment, or lashes). Nonetheless, gang rape or public rape, such as the sort that occurs during war, is still traditionally considered hirabah as that is more in line with its classical definition as a war crime or crime against civilization and society.

Punishment of a convicted rapist: of a convicted rapist: Rape is punishable in some circumstances by the ḥadd of zinā as well as in some circumstances by the ḥadd of ḥirābah and it is also complemented by ta‘zīr. Muslim jurists agreed that the punishment would not be averted even if the perpetrator claimed to be ignorant of the law. This is because of the immorality of the crime of rape and the severe harm it causes the victim. (Intisar A. Rabb. Doubt in Islamic Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 223)

Ḥadd of zinā: of zinā: Most classical scholars argued for applying the ḥadd penalty for zinā to a convicted rapist. They base their argument on a hadith which reports a rape case at the time of the Prophet (peace be on him), where the victim was excused and her rapist (who was married) was sentenced to be stoned to death. (Abu Dawood & Tirmidhi)

Ḥadd of Ḥirābah as a penalty for rape: of Ḥirābah as a penalty for rape: Certain classical jurists (Al-Tabari and the Maliki Ibn al-'Arabi) and more modern interpretations (The Religious Council of Egypt among others) have classified the crime of rape not as a subcategory of zinā, but rather a separate crime of violence